Day 76

It's been quite a long time!

For a couple weeks my life was mainly work/home, home/work, so there really wasn't anything to update.

Now that I am writing, I am no longer in Brussels. I am in my hometown, Coimbra (Portugal).

Before leaving Brussels, me and my friends had a big party and also a goodbye dinner. Hope you guys have a great holiday season!!

So.... what I can write about is my troubled trip to Portugal.

Last Thursday it finally started to snow in Brussels. 

Everyone was very happy and thrilled, except me. The snow made me anxious, mainly the thoughts of falling on my butt or my face or something around those lines. People didn't understand my aprehension...

Friday morning I woke up at 5am, got the train to the international airport and arrived there at about 6.20am. I looked up to the big board to check my flight details and..... CANCELLED, because of the snow. My thoughts were more or less "F**k!!!" I looked for the area where I should do my check-in, waited there for 2 hours, it was chaos! Initially there had been three rows, one of them Top Executive. There was a girl and her mother in front of me, who decided to go to the Top Executive section, even though they had normal tickets. I didn't go. Turns out, playing by the rules isn't always the best choice.... They had already left the queue over an hour before I did! Three queues got turned into two, people from the  former third queue started pushing their way to the middle queue... Just imagine, I had already been there for over an hour and people who had only just arrived got their plane tickets before I did. That kind of thing really pisses me off!

Happily, the company I was flying with (TAP this time, only the second time I fly with them) provided a substituting flight, that was scheduled to depart at 1.35pm. They also provided us with a 8€ voucher for breakfast. 

I decided not to go see any stores whatsoever, went to get my breakfast and sat there for a couple of hours, reading my book - travelling companion this time: Voice of the Gods, Age of Five, Trudi Canavan. Almost finishing the trilogy :) Am loving it!

My new flight left with half an hour delay. Here are a couple of pictures I took at the aiport and during the flight:

 

I arrived in Lisbon at around 3.45pm (now GMT, all previously time references were in CET). I was supposed to have arrived at 9.50am.... Despite that, I was happy for the fact that 1) we had a substituting flight; 2) I managed to still get my train with my sis at 5.39pm (she had already bought our tickets the previous day). I read in the news that in the following day the airport in Brussels was closed. So I guess I was still lucky!

I finally arrived home after 8pm.

The next day I went to spend the night with my best friends in Leiria and went to a concert with three bands (mainly composed by people we know and/or friends of ours).  It was amazing to see those guys again!!! Some of them I hadn't seen for over a year and a half.

Fried Chicken & Gasoline

A Last Day On Earth

We still went to the Beat Club to do some dancing and also get to know some new songs (thank you Carlos Matos).

The next day I came back to Coimbra to spend time with my family and went to the cinema with my friends and my sis to see... New Moon  (hihi). They hadn't seen it yet and, of course, I didn't mind to see it again.

On Monday I had to take care of renewing my European Health Card. It was nice to walk again on the old streets of my hometown, feel that familiar feeling that I know where I am and where those streets lead to. Until.... I noticed I took the wrong turn and was walking away from the Loja do Cidadão, instead of towards it. I laughed and thought to myself: does this mean that I was away for too long this time?

In the afternoon I went shopping for Christmas presents with my sister and took this little photo of my city:

It's now the 23rd December, doesn't really feel like Christmas, even though I spent a couple hours wrapping up presents yesterday. It doesn't really matter. At least I get to spend time with my family and closest friends and that's all that matters.

On the 28th I will fly back to Brussels (cross your fingers that the airport will be open and there won't be any problems with snow or weather conditions) and on the 29th at 7am I will get the train to Hannover, to spend New Year there. 

So much travelling...

Wish everyone a great holiday season! 
Have a great one and all the best!

Christmas Market

Here are some pictures I took last Thursday, when I went to the Christmas market for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

(It was rather cold, so we went for some warm drinks after at the Zebra cafe)

Sunset at Merode

These were taken last Sunday, while we were having a late brunch with some friends, to still say goodbye to that friend who left.

 

Day 59

Hhmmm... what to write...

It's been a couple weeks since I last wrote.

A couple days after the Prodigy I got a little sick... I don't think it was the flu though. In the beginning, it felt like the symptoms of a bronchitis and I started taking paracetamol/ibuprofen immediately, and also taking things to keep my throat relaxed. The next day I woke up and the bronchitis symptoms were gone, instead it seemed to have settled on my throat. Long story short, I ended up not going to the doctor, but did go to the pharmacy twice and it took about two weeks for the awful cough to go away. I still have nasty colourful things to get rid of my system...

One funny fact: last weekend we had a very big goodbye party for a friend who left to start a new job in Zürich. One person who attended that party found out the next day that she had the swine flu and was put under quarantine. Just imagine if we had all caught it from her.... (there were maybe 30 people on this party) I guess we were lucky (I was already sick, lol, could barely talk at the end of the night, with all the smoke).

One thing I forgot to mentioned previously was that I went to see the concert of Gilberto Gil. A friend won free tickets and asked me if I wanted to go with him, because I had told him before that I also like Bossa Nova. It was a very nice concert!

Hhhmmm... in the meantime, work has had it's ups and downs I guess. Friday was probably one of the most interesting days for me so far, because it was a lot more active. I had been preparing a couple meetings for a while and they finally took place, it was rather interesting.

This Friday In Flames and Killswitch Engage played in Antwerp and I had really considered going, but gave up in the end... December is a difficult month.

This week I went to the Christmas market with some friends, had glühwein, some weird "swiss" thing to eat (potatoes with bacon and something?) and churros!! :D With nutella, so delicious!!

Repeating myself, time goes by so fast... In a couple days it will be two months since I first arrived and in less than two weeks I will be flying home (to Portugal) for Christmas. My internship only lasts until end of February and who knows what will happen after....

Oh, I just remembered: I moved again! Because that friend left to Zürich and he was my friend A.'s housemate, I took his room and came back to the apartment I had been living in when I first arrived. It was a bit weird to move in to his room like that (we will all miss him very much), but it makes things much easier for me. I did almost spend more time here than I did on my other place.

(Sorry for the broken post... wanted to update, but didn't really know what to write)

Mobile Pictures

Here are some pictures I took with my mobile in the last couple of months. Quality is not the best, of course, but they aren't that bad.

A desert I once had at the work cantina:

At very nice Sushi restaurant between De Brouckère and Bourse:

 

During the Massive Attack concert (haha, can barely see anything):

 

Inside the European Parliament:

 

Day 46

It seems the typical bad Brussels' weather has settled in. It's so dark and grey outside...

Have been a bit sick since Friday, I guess it caugt up with me. It's not the flu though, I don't think so. And it doesn't seem like an infection either... Just my tonsils are a little sensitive... but I am already taking some medicine (though not antibiotics) and will be back in full health very soon...

It's 14.25 and I just want to sleep....

The Prodigy live (videos)

Here are a couple videos I made during the Prodigy concert.

Copyright recordings, music and lyrics reproduced with the kind permission of Take Me To The Hospital/Cooking Vinyl - for original performances by The Prodigy, check-out the official channel at www.youtube.com/prodigychannel.

The Prodigy at Forest National/Vorst Nationaal

Awesome concert!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always very difficult to take pictures during a Prodigy concert. Too many blinking lights.

Manneken Pis

I finally saw it! So much fuss for such a little thing, lol ....

Grand Place at Night

With special winter lights, it seems.

The Herbaliser at Botanique

Gent

Day 42

Just came home from the cinema, saw New Moon. Loved it!! It was, in terms of the film itself, so much better than Twilight. Kudos, Mr. Weitz!!
Of course they made a couple changes, but they worked out just fine for me.

Last night, Prodigy!!! So great! They are such a great live band. Definitely one of the best concerts of the year. Will upload pics and videos soon.

Off to a proper update now :)

Day 41

This post will mainly be about me complaining about things, so don't read further if you are not in the mood for that kind of thing.

So....
Lucky me... last night, I am siting on the couch with my laptop on my lap, playing my favourite game ever, World of Warcraft. These days it's difficult to actually find some time to play, so I was enjoying being able to be online. My housemate comes home with her baby (yes, she has a two month old baby), who was crying, and my instintive reaction was to get up and help her with the buggy. As I did so, I held my lappy, but I did not hold the external harddrive plugged to it... When I put down the lappy, the external disc hit the floor. Long story short, the goddamn thing is broken and no more game for me, because the big game folder (almost 20Gbs) was saved on the external drive and not on my laptop. Gladly I did not have a lot of important data on it or else I would be screaming now.

Two days ago I went to the cinema for the first time, to watch 2012 at UGC. When I was getting my ticket, I asked (yes, again) when the tickets for New Moon would be available and was told: Wednesday. So, today, I take some time off my lunch break to go to UGC get my tickets for tomorrow (there will be a premier tonight, they will play Twilight at 10pm and New Moon after, but I have the Prodigy concert, so can't make it), queue for full 10 minutes for the lady to then tell me there is something wrong with the computer and they are only able to sell tickets for today and not for tomorrow. Will have to go tomorrow again, early, to get tickets.

What is it with technology and me these days?...

Will write a proper blog update soon, hopefully.


P.S.: I was playing on the sofa, because there is no wireless, only cable connection, only in the living room and none of the cables I have are long enough to be able to put the laptop on the dinning room table...

Day 31

Sunday, 8th of November - it's now a month since I arrived in Brussels.
One down, 4 to go.

Oh time, don't go too fast.

Day 30

Saturday - getting up at.... 7.30 in the morning!! There's an organised trip to Gent, only half and hour train trip from here. It's cold...

I met a whole bunch of Portuguese ladies, with whom I ended up spending most of the day.
Our trip included a guided tour and it was nice to walk around. The main problem was that it was raining all the time and really cold!! And I realised I forgot my gloves at my friend's house (lol).

Our guide was a nice and witty old lady (it was her birthday, she told us in the end). She started the tour in the place where there's the Cathedral and the big town tower and explained to us why early in the Middle Ages a city-state like Gent would need such a tower (not only to spot unfriendly incoming people, but also as a sign of the city's prosperity and power).

Then she took us in the Cathedral and asked why there is only ONE cathedral in every city and why is it called like that. In case you don't know (I actually did know and was the person answering her question), the name cathedral comes from the Latin word cathedra, which can mean chair or throne and was the place where the bishop would sit (had his residence). She showed us around and explained all about a painting (that I don't remember the name of the author), being what we saw not the original, but a copy. The original can be visited in the same church, but in a separate room and you have to pay for it. One of the most important aspects of that painting, was that it introduced the third dimension, perspective. Also, under the church, in the "crypts", you could see old (I think Early) Medieval paintings on the walls and ceiling, that apparently where covered for some hundred years, until they were "rediscovered" and today are shown to public, looking like they used to look, all those hundred years ago.

Skipping a little, she also told us about a funny pub in town, I think close to the Socialist building but not sure, where you have a max, a beer that is a little over one liter; so people won't steal the nice glasses, if you want to have a drink, you need to give one of your shoes, which will stay up on a basket, until you finish drinking and want to leave. Call it a safe deposit. I didn't go there, but I wish I had though. A mate who did go said the beer costs about 9€ (but, hey, it's a huge beer, hehe).

We saw also the old port and old warehouses and she recommended us to have a typical dish called waterzooi, which can be made of half a chicken (!) or also fish - the chicken version was definitely more appealing to me at the time - and is basically a stew, with potatoes and several other vegetables. I really wanted to have that for lunch, because it's supposed to be a very consistent meal and it was so uncomfortable outside, but when we started checking the prices, we ended up having lunch at the Lunch Garden...

Altogether, it was a nice trip. I am sure it is a lovely place to be when the weather is nicer and you can just sit outside comfortably and enjoy the view.

(pics will come soon)

Day 29

Wow, day 29 already... It's almost been a month since I arrived here.

The last few days have been more or less quiet.
Things at work were not very challenging this week, but I am sure it will be better soon.

Sometimes I think to myself and I realise that I am not yet really aware that I am in Brussels, working at this institution. A couple weeks ago I thought "in two weeks time it will probably dawn on me" or something of the likes but... nope. I guess, when it's finished and done, maybe then I will believe it all.

Yesterday I went to a little birthday get together at one of the most amazing apartments I have been to since I am here. I met quite some German people, but also a Nigerian fellow. It was really interesting to talk to him about our experiences living in Germany and how we agree in certain aspects about life and people there (yes, I am not alone! haha).

Tomorrow there will an organised day trip to Gent, so I hope I can make a couple good pictures and post them here.

On a last note: I have not yet registered at the Comune here in Brussels and, after the stories I keep hearing from one of the persons I share office with, I don't think I will. These Belgians are crazy - so says my friend A. and I subscribe :)

Day 24

Another week has already passed.... Amazing how time flies!

At work, I finally started doing things, some of them rather challenging (had a meeting with people speaking French for over two hours and had to take notes, so I could write the minutes....).

Part of the week was also revolving around the Prodigy concert and the whole "to get or not to get tickets". On Tuesday I tried to check online if there were still tickets available, but the official website (www.sherpa.be) stated pas disponible. So I walked (on high heels.. big mistake) around the centre, to go to two places that I knew should be selling tickets and they told me "sorry, it's sold out". The disappointment... On Wednesday I decided to check again online and...  disponible again!! I decided to make phone calls to confirm if that was right and they told me there were still very few tickets on reserve. I decided to buy the tickets, but then they didn't take my type of credit card.... Because this had been planned with my friend A., she said she could use her card. "All fine", we thought. But when she tried to order the tickets from work, for some reason, the website was blocked! When she finally arrived home, the site said there were no more tickets again... Still, there was some hope, because I had found someone selling two tickets on eBay and we ended up buying those online. Now we are waiting for them to arrive with the mail, to check if they are for real - If they are, then we made a really good deal.

On Thursday it was the birthday of the Italian girl I had gone with to that first party. We started drinking at 6pm and partied until after midnight. I had SO much fun! In the end, we went  (back) to a pub (Old Oak) where there was a Eurotrash Halloween Metal Party. It was great! Happy birthday again, piccola. 

However, I don' think I should be going out during the week very often! :) I didn't have a hangover on Friday, was actually feeling really good and motivated in the morning, but still, going out when you have work to finish and hand in might not be the best idea. Was still good fun though. 

Last night, saturday, I went with the Italian girl and a friend of hers to a very interesting pub. They have over 2000 beers!!! We tried to taste as much different beers as possible and, unfortunately... two of them were REALLY bad! But now we know :)

(that's actually a glass of beer)

We also had tequilla :)

 

And... to finish this lovely post, I will show you a picture of something I found out in the kitchen in the place I have been living. The place had an odd smell when I went to live there and I keep finding the reasons why (another one were rotten things in the fridge). So, here it goes....